To more recent feedback.

His was botched as well! I have a 16 year old son whose circumcision was botched. I was looking over the photos and don't see one that resembles my son's. I have not seen it for many years ... probably since the age of say 6 or 7 but I remember well. The plastibell fell off hours after it was put on! There is A LOT of skin that never fell off? I guess and the way it was CUT? left it clumpy in areas - it looked like cauliflower - all arond the top with one side clumped bigger - Its a mess ok! So after seeing these photos - I REALISE my husband does NOT have a birth defect! His was botched as well! he has a skin bridge! I and he thought the skin was this way from birth! We now know different! Thanks for having this informative site! - Kelley in Florida April 22, 2002

Just plain wrong Shortly after my boyfriend (with whom I have not yet had sex) told me he was intact, I looked on the internet for pictures and information, and I found your site. It has been most helpful. He recently told me about "losing his cherry" to his first girlfriend, and said that boys who have their foreskins can bleed the first time they penetrate a girl since ... the frenulum ... pulls away. This happened to him - he bled his first time. Is this true - that boys actually have a "cherry" too, as long as they're not mutilated? I was fascinated by this because I've always wondered why only females have "evidence" of virginity. It always seemed an unfair evolutionary thing to me, since uptight people have punished girls forever for evidence that they've had sex before they were "supposed" to. So I was really curious if it is in nature's plan (for whatever reason) that males and females both have "cherries." Thanks for your site... it's very positive and informative and has helped me understand that circumcision is just plain wrong. If I have a son, I will NOT circumcise him. - Maryann in Pennsylvania April , 2002 This tearing can happen, but not often, and then it may not bleed. Friar's balsm is a standard treatment for the tiny wound.

It is the only decent thing to do. It is my view that all men must be circumcized, why beacuse it is the only decent thing to do, also because you do not have top be jewish to do so, circumcision means cleanliness, where asonly those dirty homosexuals, who started the aids epidemic, are the ones to blame, an uncircumcise cock, no sensible girl would suck one,what a disusting thought. - M Hogan in Brisbane, Australia April 14, 2002

I have thanked my parents. Your site is AWESOME! to borrow a word from apparent current culture. I am a registered nurse, and it has made me go "pale" whenever I have had a male infant as a patient who has been "cut", and was never given the choice!!! I am, and will always be, intact, and I have literally thanked my parents for never having me "done". My niece is currently pregnant with a boy, and she and her husband, and her mother (my sister) know how vehemently against circumcision I am --- so maybe his great-uncle will be able to save at least one little foreskin from being "wacked" off! I wish every set of expecting parents in the world could have access to the site --- and all its information. Just maybe there would be better informed decisions made when the doctors "routinely" schedule the precious baby boys with "the knife". BTW --- where might I obtain a "ribbon", as noted on your site, for keeping boys intact? I would wear more than one proudly!!! - Michael Garrett in Marietta, GA April 8, 2002 The pink and pale blue genital integrity ribbon does not seem to be available commercially - but of course you can get some ribbon from a haberdashery counter and pin it up yourself.

Our Jewish boys have not been circumcised. Our Jewish boys have not been circumcised. The older one has had a Bar Mitzvah and the younger one will do shortly. They don't really think anything of it. Sometimes I joke with them that we are going to arrange a circumcision for them now.... Of course they are horrified which makes me think that we males that have been circumcised as infants would also be horrified. So why do something unnecessary to an infant that would have horrified him as an adult? - Michael Katz in Vancouver, BC March 10, 2002

I lost about 30% of [sensitivity] I am from brazil and I am 20 years old. Actually I am writing because I would like to praise you all for this great website, it's truly important to enlighten people minds. Here in brazil, circumcision is not very common, and I as an adult decided to get cut 1 year ago. I visited your website a hundred times (and I can't complain of no information!) but even so I decided to get it done form medical reasons. Here in brazil is very hot and the smelt of mine penis was too intense, just after the bath I felt my penis was already wet, not even mention about my tight frenulum and my excessive foreskin that were causing some annoying, what I want to say in my e-mail is that, being circumcised is not the end of the world, and that I haven't being castrated, I still have the most important part for sex, my penis and my brain! If you could ask me about loss of sensitivity, I would say: yes, I lost something about 30% of this, and it´s not a problem at all. (Before the circumcision, touching the glans were painful.) About pain in circumcision, I also would say: yes, It hurts, but just the first hour after this, and it was pretty much bearable with painkillers. And finally about prejudice, here in brazil cut man suffer prejudice from the major number of uncut guys, different from USA where uncut guy are teased because of the majority of cut guys, in my view that's just a cultural issue, circumcision in very important and relevant in some countries and in some not even considered as an usual procedure. After drowning myself in internet circumcision information, I realized that most of people are just against birth circumcision, and I think we all have the right to have an opinion about everything. Under no circumstances I am doing lobby for circumcision, I just want to be fair and democratic about this issue, the same way you did in your great website. I want to thank you all for the good and relevant information you gave me and the extremely high quality website. Congratulations! - Carlos Alder in Brazil March 9, 2002 Freely chosen adult circumcision is not an ethical concern, though there are alternatives. The 30% loss in sensitivity may cause him no problems now, aged 20, but it may later.

Contempt for the foreskin is writ large I wish to thank you very warmly for your "Remarkable Silences" page. You are the first to point out the many ironies that arise from the widespread American silence about infant circumcision. I've stumbled on those ironies many a time myself, having grown up intact in the USA, during the 1950s and 60s, and being an avid reader since a young age. It is indeed true that the vast majority of Americans never talk or think about routine infant circ. If the boys I grew up with knew that their peckers had been surgically altered in infancy, they never let on, and you can be sure that they were very free with their cynical opinions about everything else! I left the USA in 1995 and have never had much use for sitcoms. I gather that the prudery enforced by network censors broke down some years ago. My wife told me years ago that Seinfeld had done an episode centered on Jewish circ. But only from your "Treatment of circumcision on TV" have I come to realise that contempt for the foreskin is writ large in contemporary sitcoms. This is bigotry, and evidence of a childish desire to conform on the part of scriptwriters and producers. My wife and I have just finished a set of prenatal classes in New Zealand. I am pleased to report that circumcision was discussed for about 5-10 minutes, where it was clearly discouraged, general anesthesia strongly recommended, and we were warned that it would cost a substantial sum, as the government won't pay for it. The woman running the show was the proud mother of 4 intact sons. My only reservation is that she appeared unaware of the sexual importance of the foreskin. - [name supplied] February 20, 2002

Intact, cut, restored Here is my story. Thank you for all your wonderful work! - David in Maryland January 16, 2002

I cut off the skin bridges Hello, i used to have 2 skin bridges, i grew up thinking they were normal. The skin bridges were very painfull when i had erections. I never knew what they were or what was wrong. When i was 18 started surfing the web trying to think of what they could be or what they would be called. I came up with different names, and skin bridge was the last one I came up with. The web site i found at the time was basically a guys story about his skin bridges, and how he went about removing them. His apparently had 5-10 skin bridges some thin and some very very thick. He cut all of them off, he described how painfull it was and how he tried to numb the pain. He also talked about the mindset he had when he cut off the skin bridges. 6 months after reading this i built up enough courage and gauze to attempt to remove my own. I was too embarrassed to tell my parents or tell my doctor. I used this antibiotic cream to numb everything, and i cut off the skin bridges. I'll never forget my mindset. I felt as if i was litteraly loosing my mind, actually going crazy. Removing the skin bridges was the best thing i ever did. I could never force a child to go through a circumcision. I dont understand how millions of people can think its great for a child that has no choices. I found your website very helpfull, I cried when I saw the pictures of that baby that got gangrene. Sincerely, - Nathan January 10, 2001 It is most unwise to perform your own surgery. Contact Doctors Opposed to Circumcision to find a foreskin-friendly doctor in your area.

She says I howled for days Thank you for your wonderful, thorough, magnificent, site on cc, though it made me terribly sad. I was circumcised at 6 yrs when I came to the US, because I was born in New Zealand, where this barbarity is very uncommon. No anesthesia or analgesic of course. What a wonderful welcome to America that must have been--I have repressed the memory and have only my mother's version, but she says I howled for days. And I have always fainted for medical procedures, always, a legacy perhaps. My mother was a war bride from A[uckland], my father a US GI in the US Army air corps stationed at Whenuapai, north of A[uckland]. I was ... taken to Dad's home in the US, at gritty Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (I have always felt against my will) when I was like 5. My Mum took me to a US doc at 6 because my glans was red, she remembers, and that is how I got ensnared. As you know, such occasional redness is merely the glans separating naturally from the foreskin with age. To keep my anger in check I have to assume that it was probably more ignorance than malice on the doc's part, but what phenomenal ignorance and utter lack of simpatico for another male. A fee for him, a maiming for me. The details: skin tags that abrade and heal slowly, hair up to the scar, no sensation at all proximal of the scar, and - as I am a grower not a shower, and stick straight out rather than hang down - a lifetime of unsought rubbing against clothing. I have argued with parents that the best thing they could do for their newborn is skip the cc and start a savings account with $500 in it called "If you really want a cc.."and presenting the child with it at 18. They all say the same thing - "but he wouldn't do it then!" Yup - exactly the point. I hope your site gets bookmarked on every computer in the US and you get terrifically rich and famous. - JG in Seattle, Washington December 10, 2001

Your clear arguments helped swing me BTW, thank you for circumstitions. It really opened my eyes to what had been done to me and what I was considering for my son. Of course, the hospital where he was born no longer performs neonatal circs - and in hindsight that delay was what initially saved him from the knife. Still, your clear arguments against circ helped swing me from "It needs to be done to save him from what I went through" to "Not while I'm still able to beat the crap out of anyone who suggests it!" I really didn't know a lot about the issue, apart from the fact that I was cut at age 8 for "medical reasons", i.e. maltreatment by well-meaning but horribly, horribly misinformed parents. Imagine what cotton buds and DettolTM [disinfectant] cream would do to a non-retractable foreskin... I recently applied Dettol cream to the inside of my lower lip... It became mildly inflamed almost immediately, and it took a week for the inflammation to fully disappear. I remember my parents and the doctor going to great lengths to persuade me that it should be done and that I'd be better off without my foreskin. Perhaps I was at one level, as they stopped the antiseptic treatment once it was gone. You can't mistreat what's not there. I also got the "You might get it caught in a zipper" story, to which my response was something like "How can I, if I put it back in my underpants first?". "Well", came the reply, "You might forget one day. You don't want to have to remember to put it back in your underpants all the time, do you?" No, Dad, I don't. I'm a total idiot. Thank you for protecting me from from myself. - Martin in Melbourne, Australia November 9, 2001

I had to figure out what happend to me I was very interested in your web site. I am a 59 year old circumcised male and I learned a lot about myself that I never knew before. Growing up I had to figure out what happend to me and why I was different than some of my friends. I wish that I hadn't been cut, but am not interested in "restoration". On another site I have learned that I have a loose circumcision, which I never knew before. At least my baby doc. didn't remove it all and left the frenum intact. I guess you're never too old to learn something about yourself. - Martin in West Palm Beach, Florida August 16, 2001

This site has definitely convinced me Thank you so much for creating this page. I am not yet a mother but plan to be and this site has definitely convinced me to not have my future son circumcised. It was probably the pictures of gangrene that really got me thinking. That may have been a rare case, but just the fact of knowing that circumcision did that is just mind boggling and, for lack of better words, horrible. My current partner is still intact but he feels a little self conscious about it. I will surely send this website to him and I think after he sees it he will feel much better about his nice, intact penis :) Well, thanks again, and I truly hope that this website has encouraged others, like myself, to not have their sons circumcised. - Courtney in Birmingham, Alabama July 31, 2001

I realize that I have lost something special For many years I supported neonatal circumcision. However, through much soul searching and finally admitting my own grief, I have come to realize that no man should be denied his birthright. Although in many ways I like being circumcised, I realize that I have lost something special. The saddest part is that I don't even know exactly what I am missing. I will never know. This makes me feel cheated. Unlike the other people writing to this page, I am gay. I am presently in a relationship with an intact man. After much hesitation, a little revulsion and even fear of his intact penis, I realize he is a lucky guy. He enjoys a much more varied and pleasurable road to sexual satisfaction than I do. I feel that I have a sexual handicap. It was a little embarrassing to be a male and not understand how a whole penis works. I urge all circumcised dads to have the strength, courage and compassion to keep their sons intact. It is worth repeating: It takes a brave man to admit his sexuality may be compromised. It takes a strong man to let his son have something he never had. Signed: A little sadder but a lot wiser man - Paul in NJ October 25, 2000

After knowing the facts, I will never ever allow it! My wife and I recently had a heated discussion on whether we should have had our two sons (ages 4 years, 5 months) circumcised soon after birth. Her main argument: it would have spared them the pain! I told her about my personal experience: "I was in the fourth grade when I finally succumbed to the pressure. It came to a point where I had to hide everytime I urinated because my classmates (most were circumcised) would tease me. The operation was fast and 'uneventful'. However, the recuperation period was not. It took almost a week for the inflammation to subside. It was terribly painful." "I don't want my sons to experience the excruciating pain at such tender ages. No way. Maybe at the age of 10 would be OK", I told my wife. However, after knowing the facts, I will never ever allow it! - Rex in Cebu, Philippines October 15, 2000 P.S. If only we could have these facts published in local newspapers, countless children would be spared of this stupid mutilation.

The subject was in violation of their "family" policy Thank Goodness for free speech. I came across this site when reading an article in the medical news of AOL. The article was about the "discovery" that infants feel pain, which naturally led to a discussion on circumcision without any pain killers. There were articles by mothers and nurses. I posted my own thoughts on the subject. A day later I received an e-mail from AOL that the subject was in violation of their "family" policy. Here you had adults discussing a medical issue and we were censored by someone who thought it violated "family values"! I'm now very suspicious of any AOL discussions and generally don't get involved anymore. - Linnaeus in New York September 17, 2000

My girlfriend has threatened to leave me Hey Hey, a million thanks for your site. My girlfriend has threatened to leave me if I don't have a circumcision done immediatly!!!, even though I do not want it done. I'll be happy to inform her that her fave actor Luke Perry is uncut, thus eliminating her argument that I'll only achieve success if I look like everyone else. She once cried for 3 hours because I told her I didn't like how her new hair style looked, yet she consistently makes me feel bad about being intact. Why do women believe they are the only ones concerned about body image? I think it might be time to move on and find a girl who isn't so concerned about looking like everyone else. Thanks again - Paul in Ontario, Canada September 15, 2000

They won't wind up being so different. Wonderful site! Very informative and thorough! I have two boys who are intact....the story about how to explain their "differences" to them was great! Hopefully, circumcision will continue to decline in our country, and they won't wind up being so different, after all. - Tangie in Washington, DC. July 30, 2000

I like the way it looks and feels. I just wanted to say that your web site is wonderful. I came across it by accident (doing a search on sitcoms) and I was really happy to see it. Although I am Catholic, I have never known or seen a man who was not circumcised until my husband (I am 31). The first time I saw it, I did not think it was gross or anything. I liked it. He was not circumcised because his mom did not have insurance when he was born and did not want to pay the extra money (I think she said it was around $7 extra, in 1958). I like the way it looks and feels. Not to be too personal, but I like the way it looks better than a circumcised penis. I read an article in Men's Health magazine against circumcision. I had never thought much of it until that article. It had exact procedures and photos (what parent would let their child's circumcision be photographed like this?) including the "ripping" of the skin. It made me ill and I cried for this poor baby. My brother, who is in med school, remarked that since it was written by anti-circumcisors, it was probably exaggerated. Most boys around here are circumcised as a general practice after birth. It is also common for it to be done without consent...hospitals assuming it's okay and to most parents it is. If I willingly took my newborn baby and decided I didn't like the looks or the care of any other body part so I simply chose to cut it off, I would be in jail. I do not have children yet, but when I do my sons will not be circumcised and they will be raised to be proud of it. My husband actually used to act sort of embarrassed about it when I first started seeing it. I didn't mean to write this long, but anyway...thanks for a great informative web site. - Bunny in Michigan July 17, 2000

I think I've found it! I just read "It's a Boy" on your intactivism page - FANTASTIC! I've always wanted just one simple piece of information to give to expectant parents. I think I've found it! - Judy in Pennsylvania June 29, 2000

You pathetic, sad, misguided excuse for a human being! You daffy bastards should get a life! Snoodiling foreskin is gross, trust me. Ya'll are just lying to yourselves if you think otherwise. I have polled many women on their thoughts on circumcision, and their responses were all the same. . . :"eeewww! that's just nasty, it looks like a friggin mutation!" Every woman I have ever slept with has been ever so glad that I didn't have a skin slinky on my damn penis. The only people who disagree with it are faggots, cause they like the extra glide in their ass, also mentally fragile individuals who think it hurts and is mutilation. Well it probably hurts, but guess what I don't remember anything about it and neither does any other circumcised male. So go grab a shampoo bottle and ram it up your ass and worry about something more important like helping to find a cure for AIDS or cancer or helping to end world hunger you pathetic, sad, misguided excuse for a human being! just in case you didn't know intactivism isn't even a word. Oh! by the way have a nice day! A CHA CHA CHA! - from Clay C Winslager <triton_2@juno.com> June 22, 2000

The urologist told me that it was necessary for me to be circumcised. Hi. I wanted to thank you for posting this website. I am a 19 year old young man and went to a urologist today for an unrelated concern. The urologist told me that it was necessary for me to be circumcised because my foreskin did not retract. This greatly disturbed me because I was always very happy with being "intact" and couldn't imagine being otherwise. The doctor told me that because I could not retract my foreskin, I could not clean it and there was a higher probabliity for me developing penile cancer. I was considering the procedure on that account alone, until i looked at this website. I have been very depressed all of today for this reason, until I saw (on your website) that my "phimosis" could be treated surgically or non-surgically and that regular cleaning was not necessary. [Well, not quite.] I would appreciate any response to this email I would also appreciate any credentials of yourself or sources for the writing of this webpage (other that those that are posted on this webpage). these will help justify my decision to remain intact, and be used as evidence for a local urologist to prescribe the (betamethasone 0.05%) in order to alter my "phimosis" You will never realize exactly how grateful I am for you constructing this webpage Thank you - John In Texas **I would like to note that this urologist never mentioned any alternative to circumcision even tho I asked him twice if it was absolutely necessary He was probably ignorant of the alternatives, unlike many doctors in non-cutting societies. Each page is constructed with the help of experts in its field. - HY

My 5 year old's foreskin has not completely retracted. Hi there, I am a mother of three young boys who are not circumsized, and neither is their father. I whole-heartedly agree that circumsision is quite unnecessary, however my 5 year old's foreskin has not completely retracted and has me a little concerned. Should I be? I would greatly appreciate your response, as most pediatricians and other people treat me like there's something wrong with the fact that I didn't circumsize my boys. Thanks for you response, - Stephanie in Florida June 3, 2000 Most boys' foreskins are retractable by the age of five, but not all by any means, and some remain forward through to manhood without causing their owners any problems. See the Care of the Intact Penis page, downloadable as a leaflet. Shame on those unprofessional paediatricians! The pressure you experienced is one of the main ways the custom is perpetuated. - HY

The images are very disturbing. I had to have my penis circumcised because the skin was very tight, and I couldn't pull back my foreskin. I was 17 when I had it done; I'm 24 now. The point I want to make is that I've seen your "botched" gallery and the images are very disturbing and I think that circumcision should be stopped (unless for medical reasons), but think of all the poor guys who have had this "operation"done, I don't know about them but you've made me feel like some kind of freak. I wish that I wasn't circumcised but I am, today I've read that I also might be sexually inept. What's more is that I've only got 4.5 inches to make do with, how unlucky can you get? Anyway, try taking into consideration the feelings of the millions of poor bastards like me who have to live with it. Goodbye. - S. in England May 26, 2000

It was nice to see men with penises more in proportion to my own. I just wanted to drop a note thanking you for your site. I am an intact seventeen year old who has always had questions about circumcision and its prevelance and your site is a miracle. It gave me what I needed to see without me having to deal with unwanted gay pornography, which had been a barrier to me when I previously seeked out information on circumcision. I got statistics and plenty of information. I am an aspiring actor and I can not tell you how happy I was to find out such fine actors as Liam Neeson, Ewan Mcgreggor, Giovanni Ribissi, the Fiennes Brothers, and Luke Perry all have foreskin on their penises, just like me! Your gallery of intact men helped me quench my curiosity as well in that I have always wondered what different foreskins look like on different ethnic men. I know three of my friends who are uncut (a black, a white, and a latino), but in conversation I found out the smallest of their penis sizes amounted to about eight inches, so it was nice to see men with penises more in proportion to my own seven inches. Thank you for answering all my questions, and I for one am definitely going to keep my future sons intact, like their father! Feel free to post this on your site, but please leave me anonymous. Thanks. - F. in the Bay area, California May 23, 2000 The average erect length is about six inches (15cm) - your friends may have been exaggerating just a little. A site maintained by and for intact youth is Voices Intact. See the Links page. - HY

I just wish I knew most of this stuff when I was a child. Hello, I think what you are doing is absolutely wonderful. I am a 19 year old male (uncircumcised) whose life has been changed (in a bad way) by the fact that I've been different from everyone else. Your site taught me so much and gave me a lot of confidence and insight, I just wish I knew most of this stuff when I was a child. I read the story at http://www.circumstitions.com/Different.html which I found very cute and inspiring (same thing happened to me from my circumcised cousins, they made fun of me and I cried for weeks). I wish I had the power to stop circumcision because it corrupted me as a child because I was different from all the other boys in the bathroom. I felt I had to hide myself all the time, and I still do. Anyways, I'm happy you take the time to try to educate people about this and I think it's a wonderful thing. I hope that other uncircumcised boys growing up don't feel the same way I do about myself. I grew up my whole life ashamed, wishing that I could be like the other boys. But now I'm just proud. Thank you. - Ben in the Bay area, Californa May 16, 2000 As some wise person said, "Not all the victims of circumcision are circumcised." - HY

The pictures set my mind at ease every time. Thank you, thank you, thank you for all the invaluable information about uncircumcised males. I decided not to have my year old son circed, but truly had minimal information with which to use as support for that decision. Your GREAT site provided it! It certainly does not help that my pediatrician is also a mohel AND that my son has a condition called reflux (urine backs up to his kidneys, like backwash, higher risk for infection). Luckily the pediatric urologist is supportive of the non circ stand and has also checked out your site. She thought (as well as I) that the map was excellent. I refer back to the photo Gallery frequently, because as my son grows his penis shape changes. As I have no personal experience with the uncut penis the pictures set my mind at ease every time. Imagine my fright the first time I saw his penis "ballooning"! I was actually afraid to call my ped because I was sure he would come after T. with the scalpel. I read thru the site and found the term ballooning and proceed to do more research. I know (phew!) now it is completely normal. Thank you again with providing so much valuable information. I feel like a much more confident mom of an uncut boy and have shared your site with many. Thanks so much!!! PS: Circumcision most definitely affects breastfeeding beginnings. I am a LLL leader, and often tell moms to hold off on the circ (or not at all) so the first feeding can be established. Thanks Again Have I said that enough? - Jaimie in Pennsylvania May 10, 2000

We clearly know the pleasurable advantages. Congratulations on a sensitively done site to encourage intactness. My wife & I decided none of our children should be circumcised if male - but with 3 daughters no problem! Males in both our families were not cut. We clearly know the pleasurable advantages. My son in law tho cut decided against having our grandson circumcised and convinced our daughter to agree. So the next generation will enjoy intact status. Keep up the good work. - Dusty in Massachusetts April 12, 2000

Her heart broke hearing the screams [After my mother said she didn't want my brother circumcised, o]ur doctor skinned my brother's foreskin from the glans. [He] told my mother to keep doing it. As the raw tissue started to heal back in place, my mother kept ripping the healing tissue. Her heart broke hearing his screams. If Mom had had another son, she probably would have had him circumcised to avoid the pain and suffering that she did not know was unnecessary and caused by the [would-be] circumcisor. - E. in Illinois April 5, 2000

I could do things I couldn't do before. All during my early sexual life (up to 28) I had been told I didn't produce enough lubrication for intercourse, that it was my fault and that I had to do something against this. It ranged from telling me to use KY [lubricant] over suggestions to see a shrink together with my S[ignificant] O[ther] to being prescribed hormonal treatment. I'd still be thinking just this, if I hadn't moved to France to work for my company there and met intact men. And hello! No problems, quite suddenly - none at all. Not just no problems either, I could do things I couldn't do, even with lube, before. I never was able to tolerate more than 1 or 2 'rounds' of intercourse formerly, even with KY. With intact men it was no problem at all, without any KY. Quite a few things my European lovers including my D[ear] H[usband] do, would be entirely impossible with a circ'd penis, as they include immobilizing the skin sheath with his penis riding inside it, e.g. between breasts or thighs. I also suddenly had an ob gyn telling me I was normal (and this sure is a relief to know after having been taught for ages that I was a sexual freak or carried hidden resentments against my SOs with me by US doctors). - Linda in Orange County, California January 17, 2000

He went back to being the boy he had been Just wanted to say THANK YOU so much for the terrific information and support. Ten years ago, I made the decision not to circumcise my son. I received almost no support, even after I showed information and pictures to family and friends (and this was in California which you'd expect to be a little more hip!) My father was the most angry with me because he had not been circumcised as a baby, but at puberty, his foreskin would not retract so, at the age of 13, he had to endure surgery and it traumatized him. I still wouldn't budge. I figured God created my son like that for a reason and until He gave me a sign that it had to go, it was staying! I thought the hassle was over. As my son got older, he began to notice a distinct difference between himself and his father, and the other little boys at school whom he had seen in the bathroom. He's very shy and, although we spoke frankly about things in our home, refused to talk about his worries and became very withdrawn. It took me a long time to figure out what was up. I knew I wouldn't be able to talk to him directly because he was so shy. So, I asked my German (and intact) boyfriend to help out because my son idolized him. My poor boyfriend was so shocked because he had never been aware that it would even be an issue. For him, seeing a circumcised man was a rare thing. He was glad to help. I asked him to casually open the door to the bathroom while he was drying off and to walk to our bedroom without covering up. My son and I were playing in his room directly across from the bathroom. As my boyfriend opened the door, my son briefly looked up, but did a double take and stared, wide-eyed, in fascination. There was a penis, on the guy he thought of as the coolest guy on the planet Earth, and it looked just like his! After that, his entire mood changed. He went back to being the silly, playful, rowdy boy he had been. We even ended up talking about it and I had to explain what circumcision was. He knew that his dad didn't have a foreskin because they removed it when he was a baby, but he didn't really know what that was. I explained how they did it (as gently as I could) and he looked very sad and said he felt sorry for the babies. Nowadays, he's very particular about it and takes great care of it as if it's something special. He even stays in the tub longer, just to make sure! I wanted to tell you that little story, because I never had any regrets about leaving my son intact, even when it was difficult for him. I'm educating him and his older sister about the reality of human beings. I even speak with a great deal of young women (teens and early 20's) on an advice board and have passed along your site for information. It's startling how many of them said they'd "definitely" have their sons circumcised, for the stupidest of reasons, including, "I just think it looks better." I'm giving them a good dose of reality and many have changed their minds, horrified by what they have seen. I figure, if these kids are out there having sex (and many of them already have babies) they need this information quick. Doctors and nurses won't be giving it to them! I had to get mine through a holistic midwife and I thank God every day she got the info to me in time. Hopefully, this new generation will take it as a matter of course that you don't just go around doing it "because that's what's always been done" by their parents and society. Anyway, thank you again and know that I'm sending links to your website to everyone I know, whether they have kids or even want kids. Everybody needs this info if we are to change the societal mindset. Sincerely, - Maus in Maryland December 9, 1999 The leaflet "Why is mine different?" was written for boys in this position. - HY

My oh my... what a surprise! I am a 36 year old single heterosexual woman who, despite the pleasure derived from it, never thought the male penis was much to look at. Now I know why! A month ago I had the pleasure of my first intimate encounter with a non-mutilated male. My oh my... what a surprise! I had the stereotypical notions about circumcision shared by most of my generation. After several very pleasant sexual experiences, I decided to do some research on the internet about the anatomy of the natural penis, which was very foreign to me. Despite having been present at the birth and circumcision of my best friend's baby boy about a year ago, I was amazingly ignorant of the male genital anatomy. I want to thank you for the frank and detailed information I have found on your web sites. I can not express the appreciation I have gained for the amazing intact male organ. I am appalled that we still perform the ritualistic male genital mutilation so frequently. You have educated me and convinced me, and I will forever be an advocate to others that they should educate themselves before doing any such thing to another child. There is a shocking degree of ignorance and misunderstanding in our "highly evolved" society about this issue. I would also like to thank you (and your models) for the "Gallery of Intact Men" (aka Hunks). Having not yet seen an intact penis without partial erection , I was very curious. The intact penis looks very natural and beautiful, and you dispel all negative myths about intact men. I have bookmarked your sites, and plan to educate all my friends. My hope is that men (and women) raised with similar bias will get a clear message that the natural male penis is beautiful, and leaving their son intact is a gift. If a man wants his son to look like him... a more rational approach would be to undertake his own foreskin restoration. And as an interesting side note, I now understand why my (incredibly sexy 50 year old ) intact lover never leaves me raw and sore, unlike previous circumcised men have. So if any intact male has doubts about his own sexual appeal, I want him to hear the message loud and clear, that this woman, born and raised in circum-centric USA, thinks an intact penis is WONDERFUL! Sincerely Yours, - Julie in Oregon November 21, 1999

Your feedback. Please indicate if your message is intended for posting here. If so, please include at least your city/region, state/province, country and whether you want people to be able to email you.

To feedback contents.

Related pages:

Back to the Intactivism index page.